World War II Database

Contributor: Bryan Hiatt

ww2dbase"Aw, nuts!"

ww2dbaseThat's what General Anthony Clement McAuliffe said to a German group who demanded the surrender of the encircled 101st Airborne at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944.

ww2dbaseAccording to Harry Kinnard, then a Lt. Colonel on McAuliffe's staff, a party of four German soldiers approached the American line waving a white flag. Their note, in part, read:

ww2dbaseKinnard said the following about the General McAuliffe’s response:

ww2dbaseThe German group didn't understand the message initially: "Is the reply negative or affirmative? If it is the latter I will negotiate further."

ww2dbaseAn American clarified it for him. "If you don't know what 'Nuts' means, in plain English it is the same as 'Go to Hell'. And I'll tell you something else, if you continue to attack we will kill every goddamn German that tries to break into this city."

ww2dbaseGeneral McAuliffe's response came to typify the "can-do" American attitude, despite the tough circumstances, demonstrated so ably by 101st Division in Bastogne. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for leading the defense of the city against overwhelming German strength in numbers and materiel.

ww2dbaseAt the time, McAuliffe was the acting commander of the Division, as General Maxwell Taylor was in Washington D.C. Taylor's son, Thomas, recounts what his father's response might have been in his book Behind Hitler’s Lines:

ww2dbaseGeneral Taylor reached the Division three days after the ultimatum was delivered, and by then "Nuts!" went "out to the world and into history."

ww2dbaseMcAuliffe went on to command the 103rd Division in January 1945 until the end of the war. After hostilities ended, he held a number of command posts in the military, including Commander and Chief of the U.S. Army in Europe in 1955. He retired in 1956.

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2.  C. Peter Chen says:
9 Mar 2006 03:56:20 PM

Actually, 103rd is correct. McAuliffe was transferred from 101st Airborne Division to 103rd Division in Jan 1945.

5.  Alan Chanter says:
25 May 2015 10:53:38 PM

According to the novelist and military historian, Charles Whiting, General MacAuliffes's scornful reply of "Nuts" made in response to the German offer to surrender after his division became surrounded at Bastogne may not be strictly accurate. Actually, he retorted something much more cruder, but fortunately for the legend, his PR man censored the expletive in time. The original would most certainly not have been appropriate for inclusion in High School history books.